Jodhpur: The Rajasthan High Court on Monday dismissed a contempt petition filed by the CBI against Indra Bishnoi, absconding accused in the murder of nurse Bhanwari Devi, asking the agency to arrest her first.

Indra, who is the sister of arrested Congress MLA Malkhan Singh Bishnoi, has been absconding for the past five months and the agency had announced a cash reward of Rs. 5 lakh on her arrest.

The CBI had filed the contempt petition after Indra failed to comply with a court order asking her to appear before the agency on March 5 during a hearing on her plea seeking a stay on the arrest warrant against her.

Counsel of CBI, Panne Singh Ratadi said, "When she failed to appear on the said date, we filed a contempt petition against her in the high court, which has dismissed the petition and asked us to arrest her first and file the petition afterwards."

Meanwhile, another key accused former Rajasthan minister Mahipal Maderna, who is currently in the Jodhpur Central Jail after he was taken from Jaipur for court hearing on May 5, underwent an MRI test at MDM Hospital this afternoon after complaining of back pain.

He had a problem of slip disc which made it difficult for him to walk and he had also complained of numbness in legs. "We had advised him surgery even before he underwent MRI test. Now the test has confirmed the problem and surgery is the only solution," said neurosurgeon Sunil Garg.

Nurse Bhanwari Devi, 36, had gone missing from Jodhpur's Bilara area on September 1 last year following which her husband had filed a habeas corpus petition in the high court.

After the state government ordered a CBI probe into the case, the agency arrested Mahipal Maderna, who was removed by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot from his ministry in October after his name cropped up in the case, on December 3 and Malkhan Singh on December 19 for their alleged involvement in the case.

Soon after her death, a sleaze CD was circulated allegedly featuring Maderna and Bhanwari.The CBI had booked 17 accused in the case, which had triggered a political storm in Rajasthan. Out of these 16 are in judicial custody while Indira is absconding.